Lincolnshire council's plea over cars blocking access to drains

Crews were unable to clean 2,500 drains due to vehicles being parked in the way, according to the council

A council has issued an urgent plea after it emerged workers were unable to clean 2,500 drains due to vehicles being parked in the way.

Lincolnshire County Council has appealed to road users to comply with essential drain cleaning notices.

A recent investigation found that in some cases as many as 60% of gullies in a street were blocked off by parked vehicles that could not be moved.

The authority said it meant the risk of flooding was increased.

Richard Davies, executive member for highways, said: "We can't carry out the preventative maintenance that we need to in some cases because of the gullies that we couldn't get to.

"This is such an issue for us now that we need to address it in a public way and ask road users for their immediate help.

'Desperately need access'

"As we have all seen in recent years, the issue of drainage is a very serious one and we desperately need access to gullies like this so that we can keep them in working order.

"As part of our need to get on with this essential cleaning and our messaging to everyone who parks on the street, we are using new temporary street signs to promote when we will be cleaning in a particular area where necessary."

Mr Davies added that in a county as large as Lincolnshire, it was essential drainage maintenance was carried out to lessen the threat of potential flooding.

"Any assistance that drivers can give us in this respect would be a very real help," he added.